Here he's called "Fava." In "The Day The Sky Exploded," he's listed as Mario Baja! Guess the English translators didn't listen too well. They certainly mangle the science of every Americanized film I've seen.

After an argument with her boyfriend Pierre, Jeanette—a distraught stripper—wrecks her car, destroying her once-natural beauty. Feeling sorry for herself and on the verge of suicide, she accepts the offer of a shadowy doctor to undergo some radical secret surgery to restore her face. The secret? “Spontaneous reproduction of living cells—the secret of life itself!” (insert maniacal laugh here.)

The procedure is a smashing success—momentarily, at least.

But when a few mysterious deaths occur around the facility, suspicions are stirred, compounded by Pierre’s investigation into Jeannette’s whereabouts. Perhaps the good doctor isn’t nearly as good as he seems, and perhaps Jeannette is more of a prisoner than a patient. And perhaps—just perhaps—it’s only a mediocre horror flick.

Deep down, it’s a combination story of obsession, cautionary tale of science, and an anti-smoking morality play. If you really want to peel away the layers, that is. On the surface, it’s just a fairly boring, awfully chatty drive-in piece with poor dialog and, for the most part, laughable effects (although the regeneration of Jeannette’s face was pretty impressive, considering.)

Worth a watch if you’ve baked yourself stupid at 3:00am on a Sunday morning, you’ve eaten all the brownies, and the Disney Channel has pre-empted Rescue Rangers, but other than that…keep on truckin’.

I think this film was produced by none other than the maestro of the macabre himself, Mario BAVA! At least IMDB has him listed as the producer, and a quick search for the name Mario Fava in this database returns nothing. Additionally, there is another list of credits that specifies the Italian director, cinematographer, etc. which is quite different the anglicized list above:

if you like camp flicks, this is your bag. it is not a good movie though. But then again, not a bad bad movie. i would never ever watch it again, but it was entertaining one time.

Reviewer:max_von_mayerling -
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October 20, 2005 Subject:
A "cult" producer.... Scarred for life but you'll love it anyway....

At first I thought this "directed" by Mario Fava, but it seems it was "produced." Or is Richard McNamara really ....?

It certainly bears the mark of the master: formulaic, tongue-in-cheek, yet very stylish and eye-filling.

The over-the-top melodrama never stops.... It's partly a function of the hilarious dialogue. Monique, the mad scientist's assistant, doomed of course to become raw material for the leading lady's "treatments", encourages her lover with lines like "Let's just stay home. Together. With our records." Our unbreakable 45's? You know, the ones with heavy SPINDLES? As he shuts down the lab she intimates that something's the matter with their relationship besides conversation: "For a moment there.... You seemed to be performing a sacred ritual."

The film begins with the leading lady breaking up with Pierre, her main man, over her sleazy night-club act. Leading lady wipes out on the way home, and wrecks her face. The scene as she comes to in the hospital would make John Waters jealous. Divine in "Female Trouble" is tame by comparison, and almost STRAIGHT. It's not surprisng that the woman almost immediately whips a pistol out of her handbag, considering how the doctors comfort her with (incredible) lines like the following: "Show me your face!"; "There's no doubt. You're disfigured forever." This is when Monique intervens, with the possibility of a cure: "It's a miracle."; "I've never believed in miracles...."; "You prefer to kill yourself?", etc.

My favorite lines: "What I will have to do is kill you, to make you know how deeply I love you."; "Yes, I want to go back to Pierre. He won't care if I'm scarred for life. He'll love me anyway." Bad logic and wishful thinking all around....

The film features some good atmospheric scenes, as the doc covers the waterfront, looking for more involuntary donors....

Surprisingly held together by a strangely camp sensibility that seems to be laughing through it all....

Sorry, this is a rather incoherent gush rather than a structured review. But I was very glad to see this movie here, and wanted to give it some attention so others would too. And I wanted to let someone know I liked it, which is self-indulgent but understandable, or at least forgiveable....